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General Information
University of Colorado
Intent to Sole Source Procurement
CU-MS35723915-SS
The PhET Interactive Simulations Project (PhET), located on the University of Colorado
Boulder campus, intends to sole source the procurement to Mobile Learner Labs Ltd. (MLL) to consult on the conversion of Java and Flash simulations to HTML5/CSS3/JavaScript format. This conversion will allow PhET’s simulations to run in a native form that works on tablets, specifically, iPads and Android tablets.
This notice is being posted as required by the University of Colorado Procurement Rules as all or part of the procurement is being paid with federal funding from the Hewlett
Foundation and The National Science Foundation. This is not a request for quotes.
Should your company be able to provide/meet “all” the below features/requirements please submit an email and/or separate Word or PDF document via email providing a point-by-point response as to your ability to accomplish this upgrade and how you
meet or exceed each feature/requirement.
A demonstration of your capabilities on-site at the University of Colorado Boulder campus, to be provided at no charge to the University may also be required in order to confirm that you’re capable of meeting all the University’s features/requirements. With your response to this Intent to Sole Source procurement, please confirm your availability for this no charge demonstration to confirm you can meet all features/requirements.
The University of Colorado will be the sole judge of equivalence. Failure to respond as instructed within this document will automatically result in disqualification.
Interested parties should read and be familiar with the specifications before responding as the below specifications must be met or exceeded with validation. Responses must be submitted by email to: Madeline.Souder@cu.edu
no later than Friday, January 18, 2013at
12:00 pm Denver, CO local time. Any submission must reference CU-MS35723915-SS in the subject line.
Minimum Mandatory Features and Requirements
Overview:
PhET’s primary goals in converting these simulations to HTML5 are to:
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Have two or more versions of simulations that work well on laptops, desktops, tablets, netbooks, and other computing platforms that are likely to be used in the classrooms of today and the next few years, and comply with all of the feature and platform requirements specified below.
Understand the current limitations of HTML5 when used for highly interactive, graphics-based educational simulations

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Tasks:
During this project, multiple simulations will be ported through the collaborative efforts of
PhET and MLL. The first simulation will be “Forces and Motion: Basics”, the Java version of which can be seen here: http://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulation/forces-and-motion-basics.
Additional specific simulations can be added to the scope of this agreement by mutual consent of PhET and MLL. Likely simulations for porting are:
1. Radio waves and electromagnetic fields
2. Fluid Pressure and Flow
3. Models of the Hydrogen Atom
4. The Moving Man
5. Projectile Motion
6. Maze Game
7. Forces in 1 Dimension.
8. The Ramp
9. Energy Skate Park
10. Balloons and Static Electricity
11. John Travoltage
12. Electric Field Hockey
13. Wave Interference
14. Sound
15. Balloons and Buoyancy
Any such agreement shall be documented via email.
The overall length of this engagement can be extended by mutual consent of both parties, and any such agreement shall be documented in emails. This may be done if the initial effort takes longer than expected, or if a decision is made to port more simulations.
Targeted Feature Requirements
The target for the behavior of the individual simulations is to make each of them match the behavior of the currently available Java or Flash version. The limits of
HTML5/CSS3/JavaScript may prevent the behavior from being identical, and PhET recognizes that some modifications to the behavior may be necessary. PhET and MLL agree to make a reasonable effort to document such variations.
In addition to the basic interactive behavior of the simulation, there are several features that need to be addressed when planning the design and implementation of the simulations.
These features are listed here as a reference:
 Translation: PhET simulations are designed such that the textual strings that they display can be easily translated into other languages.
 “About” Dialog: All PhET sims have an “About” dialog that provides information about PhET, the sim version, OS and version, and other important information. This dialog also allows the user to link to the Software Agreement and Credits dialog.
These must be supported in a similar fashion to their current behavior. For reference, see the “About…” button in the current version (v2.13.00) of the Energy
Skate Park Basics simulation,
URL = http://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulation/energy-skate-park-basics.

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 File Save and Load: Some simulations support the ability to save configurations created by the user so that they can be restored at a later time. If this feature exists in the existing simulation, it should also be supported in the ported version.
 Sim Event Data Collection – Some PhET simulations currently support a feature where data can be collected about the way in which the user interacts with the simulation. This is generally used for research and for improving simulation design.
This feature should also be supported in the ported simulations. We expect to make use of extensive use of Google analytics or a customized analytics collection capability.
 Offline use – Simulations should be able to be downloaded locally and run offline.
 Updates and tracking – Local copies of simulations should ping back to PhET to see if updates are available as well as send limited information about their use to PhET, matching the current feature available on PhET sims.
Targeted Platform Requirements:
The resulting simulations must run well on Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS on iPads, and Android
Tablets. More specifically, the following combinations of OS and browser should be supported, and will need to be explicitly tested:
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Windows: IE9+, Chrome 18+, Firefox 3.5+
Mac: OS 10.6+, Safari
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• iPad 2: Safari iPad 3: Safari
Android 4+: native browser, Chrome
• Linux: Firefox 3.5+
The list above contains no mobile phones (e.g. iPhone 5), and PhET does not currently intend to expend significant effort on the design and implementation specifically targeting mobile phones. However, during the development effort, some testing of the simulations on mobile phones should be performed and, if minimal changes can be made that allows the simulation to function better in these environments, such changes should be implemented.
Targeted Performance Requirements
The target frame rate at full resolution on all platforms listed in the “Targeted Platforms” section is at least 30 frames per second at full size. For laptops and desktops, assume a resolution range of 1024 x 768 up to 1600x900 pixels. Scaling up or down to fit the target resolution is sufficient—no work is required to change the layouts dynamically to optimally fit different screens. For an example, see the simulations linked from the PhET Site above.
Process Requirements:
Development will be done in, and all code submitted to, the code repository specified by
PhET using standard configuration measurement tools: https://phet.unfuddle.com/a#/projects/9404/repositories/23262/browse
MLL developers will be set up with an account at the onset of the development effort.
MLL and PhET will have regular update meetings to discuss progress, challenges, and plans for moving forward.
MLL will provide PhET with a weekly summary of hours expended on the project and progress made.

III. Sole Point of Contact - Purchasing Agent
Madeline Souder
University of Colorado, Office of the President
1800 Grant Street
Denver, CO 80203
303.764.3418
Madeline.Souder@cu.edu
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